Football season is in full swing, which means that fall is here. Fall is seriously the best season for eating soups. Nothing is more comforting than eating soup and a sandwich (or soup and some homemade bread) and watching an early afternoon game. GO BLUE!!

Tomato soup is a great soup to have when you go on a bender of have grilled cheese.  It is also a great soup to make when you have tired yourself out of making salsas, spaghetti sauce, etc. with your wonderful harvest. I, unfortunately, did not have a garden this year, thus no fresh tomatoes to can, etc. And once you see how easy this soup is, you’ll be amazed.

Michigan Ingredients: Spartan Products galore!! tomato soup, stewed tomatoes, Meijer half and half.

Now I know… I could have used fresh tomatoes and made stewed tomatoes myself or have someone give me stewed tomatoes… HOWEVER, this soup is super quick to make. And I know… tomato soup to make tomato soup. FAIL. So this is one of those Semi-from-scratch recipes.

This recipe comes from someone who I use to work with. She told me that it is called “Beach Bar Soup,”  and everyone in Jackson, Michigan loves it.

First things first, let’s get to dicing up your onions.

Start melting a stick of butter and saute  your onions. I know it may seem like it is quite a bit of butter, but this makes a HUGE amount of soup. Please trust me.

Once your onions are translucent, add the remaining ingredients (stewed tomatoes, tomato soup, half and half, cream cheese, and your seasonings: basil and garlic).

Bring the soup to a small boil. Once it starts to bubble, I would recommend removing it from the heat so that you can start the “lengthy” process of pureeing the soup. If you have one of those cool immersion blenders, by all means use that. BUT if you are like me and not super duper fancy, you can use either a food processor or blender.

It usually takes a few batches to process it all, but in the end it is worth it.

Return it back to the pan and bring the soup back to a slow bubble. Keep in mind that this soup has dairy in it, so keep a close watch.

You can serve your soup this way… or……

Serve with ooey gooey grilled cheese. Enjoy.

Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup

 

Author:

Michigan from Scratch

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 8-10

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 30 mins

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A delicious soup to use up your tomato harvest!

Ingredients

• 1 quart of Stewed Tomatoes (32 ounces)
• 3 cans of Tomato Soup
• 12 oz of Cream Cheese
• 1 quart of Half and Half
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 stick of Butter
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 2 tablespoons Basil

Instructions

1. Saute your diced onions in the melted butter until translucent.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a small bubble on low heat. Remove from heat.
3. Puree the soup using either a blender, an immersion blender or food processor. Return to back to the pot.
4. Bring soup to a small boil on low heat. Be sure to watch the soup to make sure it does not scorch. Serve with grilled cheese or shredded cheese and croutons.

Notes

Note: I would recommend eating or freezing this soup within a matter of 3-4 days.

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